Resting his palm on the sofa, Nathan Leafcastle slowly lifted himself up. Feeling a tugging force at his chest, he looked down to see that Sally Dalton had already undone one of his buttons.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, bending the supporting arm back and tilting his head to kiss her neck, while his other hand reached over to touch her shoulder, pulling her dress open.

"Nathan, you..."

His movements startled Sally Dalton.

The man didn’t speak, just bent down to kiss her body, her voice turning into a low, soft moan.

Reaching her hand out, she gently turned off the floor lamp.

In the living room, it went dark.

...

...

While embracing her, Nathan Leafcastle’s mind repeatedly flashed with scenes of Vera Wave, her angelic and serene sleeping face by the window...

Tightly holding Sally, he vigorously moved through her.

"Vera, I love you."

A moment later, Sally Dalton’s breath gradually settled.

"Nathan, what did you just say?"

Nathan Leafcastle snapped back, a trace of panic flashed across his face in the darkness.

"I... I didn’t say anything."

"I heard it all," Sally Dalton said softly in his arms.

"What... what did you hear?"

"Naughty," the girl softly pouted, "Do you really love me?"

Moments before, in the excitement, she vaguely heard him saying "I love you."

Nathan Leafcastle took a deep breath, burying his face in her hair.

"Sally, I’m sorry."

Unsure of his thoughts, Sally assumed he was apologizing for waiting so long to say those words. Gently stroking his short hair, she softly replied.

"Silly, I know you’ve been in a bad mood lately, but everything’s in the past. From now on, we’ll start over... Everything will be fine!"

In the darkness, Nathan Leafcastle’s brow furrowed tightly.

"Sally, I’m not as good as you think I am."

"That’s normal, everyone has flaws, including me."

She reached out to turn on the light, and Nathan Leafcastle pulled his shirt over her shoulders, lifting her from the sofa.

"Come on, let’s go upstairs."

Together, they went upstairs, and Nathan Leafcastle escorted her to her door, "I... I need to handle some documents, if you don’t mind?"

Her cheeks still flushed, the girl smiled with understanding and tenderness, "Go ahead, but don’t stay up too late."

After closing her door, he turned back to the study, closed the door tightly, and his brows knitted together.

Instead of sitting at the desk to handle any documents, he just took out a cigarette, walked to the balcony, and smoked slowly.

On the desk, the phone rang.

Nathan Leafcastle was startled, walked over, and picked up the phone.

"Mr. Leafcastle, Irene Spencer has been arrested."

The voice on the other end was his assistant’s.

"When did this happen?"

"In the afternoon."

"What’s the reason?"

"I’m not very clear yet; the news is conflicting, but... it might be related to Kris Cooper."

Before Nathan Leafcastle could say anything more, the study door had already been pushed open, and Sally Dalton walked in from outside.

"Nathan, is something wrong?"

This late, with someone suddenly calling, she couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

"Oh, nothing, just the assistant reminding me of something." Nathan Leafcastle hung up the phone, "My phone is upstairs. He couldn’t reach me, so he called the room."

"I see." Sally Dalton glanced at the cigarette he was holding, "Don’t smoke too much; it’s not good for your health."